Comfort for My Corporeal Friend
by Astrid16
Summary: *AU* It's difficult being invisible to the ones you love. As the imaginary friend of little Nya, I know exactly how that feels. One day I'm chasing her in the park, and the next I'm nothing more than a happy memory. A dream. But I'm still here, alone and afraid.


**Hey, guys! I was having trouble with True Grit this week, so I decided to write this instead. ^^ I hope you enjoy it.**

 **YESSSSSSS IT WORKED! *Does a happy dance* OH! All day yesterday I wasn't able to mess with my Doc Manager. It was freaking me out. Justicerocks, from a FF forum, suggested I change my web browser because Safari can be glitchy. IT WORKED!**

 **You probably don't care. But it's like a miracle from heaven to me. ^^**

 **Anyways. Yeah. Thanks for sticking with me. I love you all!**

* * *

 _Comfort for My Corporeal Friend  
A One-shot by Astrid16 _

* * *

It's difficult, being invisible to those you love. D'you know what I mean?

Or how about the feeling of not being needed? Of knowing that your best friend has other places to be, better things to do, and more interesting people to interact with than you?

If you know what I'm talking about, I sympathize from the bottom of my heart. Though, if you don't know, I'll admit I'm a bit jealous.

Anyways, I'm rambling. Let me tell you a bit about myself.

I'm not real. You see, it's kinda complicated. I'm a part of Nya's mind. A fantasy. An imaginary friend, I suppose you might call me. Nya created me when she was four years old.

My name is Jay. I have red hair and blue eyes. That's because those are her two favorite colors. She made me a tall, _handsome_ adult because she wanted me to look like a Prince Charming out of her favorite book (did I mention she loves to read?). Pretty neat, huh? I mean, I'm luckier than Kai's imaginary friend, Flame, which he says is a toothless fire monster with floppy ears.

Or... _was_ , I should say. Flame's not around anymore. Kai grew up.

And, eventually, Nya grew up too.

I'm going to tell you how that happened. Thanks for listening this little monologue, it really does mean a lot to me, knowing you're there. You wouldn't believe how lonely it can get, just waiting for that day when you finally fizzle out of existence.

I mean, I had a beginning, out there in that field of flowers when Nya gave me a face and a name. Can't I have an end, too?

* * *

"No, Jay, that's not right," Nya had said on that warm September evening when she was six. Her tiny curls bounced as she threw her head back and laughed. "Silly. You're supposed to jump _on_ the cracks, not over them."

I bent down and patted Nya's head. "Of course I was. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry, silly! Just do it. It's Kai's turn when you're done."

I stood and did as she said, jumping on each crack in the sidewalk. When I reach the other side I turned and beamed at her and her brother. "Okay, now it's his turn. Come on, Kai!"

Kai couldn't see or hear me, of course. I was just a part of Nya's imagination.

Nya nudged her brother. "Hey! Jay said it's your turn."

"Okay." Kai, with his auburn hair and eyes the same golden-amber hue as his sister's, leaped onto the first crack. "Come on, Flame," he said turning back to smirk at his imaginary friend. Even I couldn't see Flame, of course, because he was just a figment of Kai's imagination.

And, giving what I'd known at the time from Kai about Flame and his...violent personality, I didn't care to see him.

"No cheating, Flame! Step on the cracks only!"

A moment of silence, in which Kai teetered on one sandaled foot over a crack in the pavement, and then he spoke again. "No excuses, Flame! I know you've got stubby legs, get over it."

In hindsight, eight-year-old Kai had been a bit mean to that poor fire monster.

Kai and Flame reached where I stood at the finish line- marked with hot pink chalk- and he turned to Nya. "There! I did it. Let's see if a _girl_ can pass the challenge, eh?"

Nya met my gaze and put on the most determined face I'd ever seen. "I will. Because girls are strong."

"Yeah, right." Kai rolled his weight onto one foot, still smirking. "Go ahead. Prove me wrong."

Nya, the tiny, fragile little flower with a smile brighter than the sun, jumped. She gasped as she landed on the first crack, spreading her feet to keep her balance.

"You can do it!" I cheered. "Come on, teach your brother who's the strongest!"

My words had the desired effect. She took a deep breath and jumped again, landing with more grace on the second crack. Three more. She leaped, gaining confidence. Then again. And then a third time.

Too fast. She hadn't been paying attention, and her legs weren't steady enough for the jump. She skidded feet-first into the pink line, twisting her ankle backward. She fell, skinning her palms and left knee.

"Ow..." She struggled to a sitting position and gave her brother a thumbs-up with her good hand. "I did it."

Kai hadn't seemed to care that she'd 'done it'. He dropped to his knees next to her and cupped her wounded hand in his. "It's bleeding really bad," he said. "Ouch. Look at your knee! Can you stand?"

"Of course," Nya said, but her voice wavered. She got up, arm around Kai's shoulder. "I'm okay, really." She put weight on her right ankle and yelped. "Ow!"

"Uh-oh. Your ankle too?" Kai bit his lip. "I can't carry you, sis. But the house is just down across the street, can you walk at all?"

Now crying softly, Nya nodded. She was trying to stay calm and steady, but each step she took made her cry harder.

I did my very best- being imaginary can be a pain; I can't actually do anything. "You're gonna be okay," I'd said, my hand on her shoulder. "I'm proud of you. See at how far you went? All the way to the finish line. I'll bet even Kai's a little bit proud."

And he was. I saw it later that night: Nya and I had watched from the window as Kai went to pick up the chalk and bring it home. He'd pointed at that hot pink line- and the spattered blood beside it- and smiled proudly at her.

It was an image Nya and I kept with us for many years after the fact: no matter how much he teased his baby sister, he loved her with all his heart.

Just like me.

* * *

There are too many memories to bring to light in the short amount of time I have left. But I'll think of a few more before it's over.

Nya was ten. Kai was twelve, and Flame was gone- he'd decided he was too mature for an imaginary friend at that point.

I was at the lake with some of their friends. The weather was calm, and the sun was slightly overcast- perfect for boating.

They were getting into canoes- Nya with her two best friends, and Kai with three of his.

"Shove off!" One of Kai's friends- a loud boy named Clint- bellowed at the top of his lungs. A loon near the shore ducked under the water, startled.

The boys were perhaps ten yards out when the girls finally got their boat into the water.

"Wait!" Nya had cried. She pointed at me. "What about Jay? Is there room for him on the boat?"

Her blonde friend Larissa snorted. "You still have that imaginary friend? Why don't you grow up?"

Nya wavered, glancing desperately between me and Larissa.

 _This is it,_ I'd thought. _She's growing up, just like Kai did. She doesn't need me anymore._

Then Nya reached out her hand. "You can sit with me, Jay," she'd said. "I'm not leaving you behind. You'd get lonely."

I wasn't sure what would happen when she finally dismissed me- would I fall out of existence? Would I float around like a ghost, invisible even to Nya, waiting for her to call me back?

I got my answer sooner than I would have hoped.

* * *

Her friends continued to wear away her resolve. They told her that she had _real_ friends and that she didn't need someone like me to talk to.

For a while, Nya just laughed them off. "You can never have too many friends," she'd say.

But then she started to change. She'd look at me and blush, as if ashamed to see me there, waiting to play. To talk. To listen to her when she was having a bad day. To laugh with her when Daddy said something funny.

It started with small things. Nya's friends told her to leave me outside when they went to the movie theater one day. "You're old enough," they'd said. "You don't need an escort."

I'd stood by the doors patiently, knowing she'd be there when the movie was over.

Which was true. She came bounding out ahead of her friends, rambling on and on about how fun the movie had been. "I wish you could have seen it, Jay! The dogs were so cute. Oooh, but that bad guy was scary. Maybe next time Larissa and Kate will let you come with so you can hold my hand."

A few months later, things got more serious. Her friends insisted one winter morning over the phone that she leave me at home whenever they hung out together.

So I'd wait on her bed patiently, knowing she'd come back and talk to me.

Which she did. She'd talk about the music they'd listened to, and the food they'd eaten, and the dresses they'd seen in the windows of those quaint shops downtown.

Life was good. For her, at least. And that's what mattered, right? I mean, I never had a life to begin with. Even today I try my best to not be bitter about the gradual steps she took to forgetting me.

* * *

Nya's thirteenth birthday. A joyous day for her, a terrible one for me. She was finally a teenager. Puberty and mood swings were just around the bend...

...and I was left behind.

I followed her around as she, her friends, and her family laughed, played, and celebrated in the way that humans did.

She didn't speak to me. Not as much as a peek in my direction the whole day. Not that I minded; she often forgot about me nowadays, only speaking to me when we were in private and she was bored.

It wasn't until the guests had left and she was slipping into her pajamas that I realized the horrible truth.

"What a day," I'd said, gesturing to the pile of gifts she'd carried up in a big box. Articles of clothing, books, jewelry...the list went on. "Happy birthday, Nya. You're growing up so fast."

Nya kept right on humming with her radio as she brushed her hair in front of her full-length mirror.

"You're beautiful today," I'd said, gauging her expression. Had she even heard me? "You're starting to look like a woman. Isn't that great? I remember, that's what you'd always wanted. To be a grown-up and...stuff."

Still no response.

I don't care to recall the feelings I felt then as I slumped to the floor next to her closet door. I suppose they were terribly human emotions related to grief and loneliness and depression.

I didn't get up for a long time. She'd long since gone to sleep, and I'd stared at her in the darkness, contemplating my sad existence.

I no longer _existed_. She'd finally grown up and forgotten about me. I was invisible to her.

So this was it, then? Was I doomed to be like this until she finally died? Or would I continue on until the end of time?

I guess only _time_ will tell.

* * *

It had been three years. She was sixteen, and still I followed her everywhere. I suppose it was just a madman's hope, thinking that maybe if I just waited long enough she'd remember me.

Kai lived on his own, nearly thirty minutes from where Nya and their parents lived. However, at that time their parents had been across the country at a coastal retreat, and Nya was alone.

Nya had been painting her nails at the kitchen table when the call came. It was Kai, voice cracking as he gave her the news.

Mom and Dad had died in a boating accident.

"I'll be there in an hour," Kai had said. "I love you, sis."

Nya didn't say a word. She dropped the receiver, turned on her heels, and ran to her room, leaving the bottle of blue nail polish tipped over on the table.

In her room, she curled on the floor and sobbed. "Why us?" she asked, hugging her knees to her chest. "Why them? Why..." Every sentence after that came broken and unintelligible.

I had sat next to her, of course, and tried to touch her cheek. My hand went straight through her, and I pulled it away.

"I'm sorry," I'd said. "I'm so sorry, Nya."

We sat in silence until Kai arrived. He let himself in and came straight to her room, then knelt and put his arms around her. They cried together for some time.

 _Is Flame still here?_ I'd found myself wondering. _Is he standing next to Kai, wishing with all his strength he would be seen so he could offer comfort?_

I never would know.

* * *

The days passed at a snail's pace. The funeral came and went. Kai and Nya went to the family house afterward and continued packing, still in their black suit and dress.

Nya was working on the living room as Kai did their parents' bedroom. She worked slowly and tearfully; her eyes were rarely dry now. She packed up lamps and books and little china figurines on shelves. Then she uncovered a thick album, and she hesitantly flipped it open.

There she was as a baby, wearing a frilly pink dress, sitting on her dad's lap on the porch of their first home. Her dad was much younger; his auburn hair less gray, his blue eyes surrounded by fewer wrinkles.

Further down was a picture of toddler-Kai holding little Nya on his lap, kissing her nose.

Nya flipped a few more pages, each one bringing forth fresh tears. She smiled sadly as she looked at each picture. Such bittersweet memories of Dad taking them fishing, and Mom teaching them how to make scrambled eggs, and all four of them putting on a puppet show...

She stopped for a long time at a page depicting a time when they had been camping near the river. There were pictures of Kai- seven years old, with hair that hadn't been combed once that week- standing over a fire with a stick.

I remembered that! Kai and Flame had been doing a dance around the fire, trying to make it bigger. "You're a fire monster," he'd said, "why can't you do anything with your powers? You're so dumb."

But it was the picture next to this one that had caught Nya's attention. Five-year-old Nya sitting on a log, making two s'mores. One for her, and one for me.

Nya fingered the image. "Jay," she whispered. "I'm so lonely."

 _She was_ talking _to me._

"I know," I'd said. Excitement buzzed through my imaginary chest, mingling with the sorrow. "Me too."

"I'm sorry," she'd continued. "Really, I am. I want to see you. I want to know if you're still around, or if you've moved on to...other places."

"Then see me. Please, see me!"

"My imagination isn't what it used to be. I'm not a child, living in a fairy tale where everything is rosy and beautiful anymore. I can't picture you. I know because I've tried. I try every day, Jay. But my mind tells me that you're not real and that I can't actually see you, so...I don't."

"It's...okay," I'd said. Honestly, I was just so relieved that she was actually talking to me. It didn't matter that she still couldn't see or hear me. "Don't ever stop talking to me, please? I'm lonely. I want to know how you're feeling."

That was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time. Because after she'd admitted her feelings, she seemed a little less sad.

And that had made me happy.

* * *

So now we've reached the end. Thank you for sticking with me through this, just as I have stuck with my best- and only- friend. It gives me comfort in this time of grief, knowing that someone out there cares.

 _Beep._

I suppose I should tell you where I am right now. We're at the hospital with Nya. She got in a biking accident. Kai sits in the seat next to me, holding her hand.

She's only twenty-four. That's way too young to die.

 _Beep._

But...here she is. Shattered ribcage, broken vertebrae in her lower back, a damaged lung, and all her insides are smashed like chunky jelly.

I was there when they tried to operate. It wasn't very pretty.

 _Beep._

But now, everything is clean and sterile. Each _beep_ of the monitor comes a little slower than the last. She hasn't woken up. Her broken body lies on the bed, twisted in a way that I know isn't right. There was too much internal bleeding; the doctors said there was no way to fix her. She wears an oxygen mask, which fogs with every infrequent breath.

Kai is crying silently. He fondles her bruised hand as though it were made of the most delicate tissue paper.

There's a ring on her fourth finger. She got married to a wonderful young man named Zane last summer. He's on a plane right now, trying to make it here before...

 _Beep._

"It wasn't supposed to be this way," I say. "You were supposed to live a long life. Have kids." I sink to my knees and put my hands on the bed near her sleeping face. "Who knows? Maybe they would have had imaginary friends of their own. Imaginary friends that are eventually...well, discarded. Imaginary friends that follow them like spirits until the end."

 _Beep._

"I wonder what will happen to me when you go. Will I finally die too? I hope so. I want to follow you."

 _Beep._

"I love you," Kai whispers. "Don't go, Nya. You're all I have left."

"You created me to be a companion forever!" I shout. "Does forever end today? Will I be alone? Don't leave me here! Take me with you!"

 _Beep_.

Nya's eyes flutter open.

"Nya," Kai says, dropping her hand. He leans forward, touching her face. "How do you feel?"

Her eyes dart frantically. She tries to move, but she's too broken. All she manages to do is clench her fingers.

"I can't feel anything," she croaks.

The heart monitor beeps more rapidly. She's panicking.

"Just calm down," Kai says. "It's going to be okay. Zane's on his way."

"Zane?" Nya says. "No, no. I... Zane's not supposed to be back until next week. This was an important business trip! I'm fine, tell him to go back."

"Shh, shh." Kai smooths her hair. "It's okay. Please don't cry."

She breathes noisily through her damaged lungs, trying to calm herself. She shuts her eyes.

"Don't sleep," I say. "Not yet, Nya."

Nya manages a soft smile. "I won't."

 _Beep._

...What?

I stare at her. Surely she was replying to her brother. That had to be it. She can't see me.

Nya opens her eyes again and stares back at me. "I guess even mature people like me can dream, eh?" She opens her hand. "Twenty years, Jay. Have you followed me all that time?"

Too stunned for words, I nod.

"Jay?" Kai frowns at the empty chair I'm occupying in Nya's mind. "Wasn't Jay your..."

 _Beep._

"Thank you, Jay," Nya says. I...I guess I'm dying now. Will you do me a favor?"

"Of course," I say eagerly.

"Take care of Kai. He'll be all alone when I leave. I mean, he had Flame, but that monster was a lousy friend. I want Kai to have you instead."

I process what she's said with horror. "You...want me to stay behind?"

"Follow me if you want, Jay. But Kai needs you." She stretches her arm over the side of the bed.

 _...Beep._

Not daring to believe it might be true, I reach for her hand. My skin touches hers, and I squeeze as tight as I dare without hurting her.

I begin to weep.

"You're gonna be okay," Nya says. "I'm proud of you. See at how far you went? All the way to the finish line." She squeezes back weakly. "Will you run another race for me?"

Will I?

Am I willing to do this again, but with a different corporeal friend?

"Yes," I say. "I'll do anything for you."

"Promise?"

I kiss her hand. "Promise."

 _...Beep..._

"Kai?" Tears stream onto her pillow through closed eyes.

"Y-yeah, sis?"

"I love you, Kai."

"I love you too," Kai says.

"Zane, too. Tell him when he gets back. I love him."

 _...Beep..._

"I'll tell him."

"Thank you. ...Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"You remember what Jay looks like?"

"...I think so."

"Good... He's yours. Don't...forget him, he's going to take care of you now."

"Take care of me?" Kai repeats. "How can he? He's not real!" He cups Nya's cold cheeks in his palms. "Nya! Don't... No, please don't go."

Nya's hand slips from my grasp, falling to the bed. I'm invisible again.

For a long moment, there is silence. Dead silence in which no one breathes, no birds sings outside the open window, and no footsteps clatter past our room.

And then the monitor sings in a long, mournful, flat tone.

I start to slip away. I can feel my body disintegrating as Nya's mind dies. It's slow, I suppose because the mind can hold onto life for a few minutes after the heart has stopped beating.

Nurses enter the room and begin to detach her from their equipment. They offer Kai condolences. I can barely hear or see any of it; I'm almost gone.

"Kai!" I say as loud as I can. As if it could ever help him to hear me, a ghost of Nya's fading conscious. I reach out to him. "What about her? She wanted you to take me! I can't-"

In one sudden, jerking moment, Kai reaches out and grabs me. I begin to change; not a lot, but enough that I know Kai is trying to picture me: my image, my personality. He interprets it as best he can, never letting go of my wrist. I feel myself become a part of his mind. I begin to reappear.

Kai examines me, jaw set in a grim line. "You'll stay with me?" he says, apparently not caring that he looks like a madman in front of all the nurses, talking to an empty chair. "Even if I come back to my senses and let you disappear? You'll always stay with me?"

It's difficult, being invisible to those you love.

But it's impossibly heartbreaking to feel unneeded.

So...maybe that's why I'm here. I need to simply _be_.

"I...I'll be there in those moments when things are at their worst," I say. "And though you may not see or hear me, I'll always be there to comfort you. I'll laugh with you, and I'll cry with you. And for as long as you live- be it twenty more years or a hundred- I'll follow you. I won't leave."

I had a beginning, out there in that field of flowers when Nya gave me a name. Can't I have an end, too?

No. Because I have an important job to do.

I'm a comforter to my corporeal friend.

* * *

 **I kinda fell in love with this. I've just been having a TON of trouble with uploading it (doc manager is being buggy in Safari, but I'm trying Google Chrome in hopes of a better outcome). So that sucked a lot of the joy out of it for me.**

 **Please review/favorite if this story please you! It's consumed the greater part of 18 hours both on Sunday and Monday, of any feedback is appreciated. *hugs* Have a great week!**


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